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Chris Bowen outlines ‘three fatal errors’ with Coalition’s nuclear plan
Chris Bowen says the Coalition’s nuclear costings are “riddled with fundamental errors [and] heroic assumptions” and have three fatal errors.
Firstly, the costings assume Australians will need less electricity in 205o than suggested by Aemo, he says.
This is a fatal error in their costings and it is a dangerous error because it is risky, it runs the risk of leaving Australians short of the energy they need.
Secondly, the Coalition rejected the work of CSIRO and Aemo and have “assumed an ongoing cost of $30 a megawatt hour when it comes to nuclear.”
Aemo and CSIRO say to recoup the capital cost of nuclear, that would need a price of $145 to $238 a megawatt hour. That’s a big difference.
And thirdly, the Coalition has assumed their plan would need less transmission.
On page 45 of their modelling, they assume savings because of fewer transmission lines. They haven’t outlined what transmission lines they will cancel – presumably not the project Energy Connect, which is well under construction. Presumably not Marinus Link connecting Tasmania and the mainland, which Peter Dutton has previously said he’s committed to. Presumably not HumeLink, which connects Snowy 2.0 to the grid.
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Graham Readfearn
Coalition nuclear costs based on electricity system producing 31% less electricity than Labor’s
Earlier, we pointed out the Coalition’s reported cost savings for nuclear power were comparing two different scenarios of the future.
Tristan Edis, director of Green Energy markets, said the “progressive change” scenario “involves total electricity consumption in 2052 of 311TWh, whereas Step Change is 450TWh or almost 45% greater electricity demand.”
We (and that means me) made the mistake of saying this meant that the Coalition’s nuclear costs were based on an electricity system producing 45% less electricity than Labor’s.
But that’s not right. It should be 31% less than the Coalition’s.
We could have said Labor’s preferred approach would produce 45% more electricity than the Coalition’s. That is correct.
Amnesty International opposes calls to ban pro-Palestine protests from city centres
Amnesty International Australia says it strongly opposes calls from Australia’s antisemitism envoy to ban pro-Palestinian protests from city centres
In a statement the human rights group said that Australia had a “long and proud history of anti-war protests”, opposing the Vietnam war, against nuclear weapon proliferation and the Iraq war.
The human rights organisation said it “ abhors antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of racism” – but that “criticism of blatant human rights violations and genocide is not hate speech.”
It said it was “crucial to differentiate between hateful acts and calls for justice”, and that calls to ban peaceful protests in city streets are “out of step with the value placed on the right to protest in Australia and risks silencing pro-Palestinian voices”.
The organisation’s spokesperson for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mohamed Duar, said:
To characterise these demonstrations as ‘intimidatory’ is not only misleading but dangerous. It delegitimises the voices of those calling for justice in Gaza and beyond. Criticism of state actions is not hate — it is the exercise of freedom of expression, a right that must be safeguarded, not suppressed.
Caitlin Cassidy
Queensland high school graduates woke to Atar results this morning
The wait is over for 28,845 Queensland graduates, who this morning woke up to receive their Atar results.
One in four (25%) of students received an Atar of 90 or above, and 36 received a perfect score of 99.95.
The state’s minister for education, John-Paul Langbroek, congratulated all Year 12 students on completing high school.
All of you have worked extremely hard, with the support of your teachers, family and friends. I’d like to acknowledge the talented individuals who achieved an impressive score of 99.95.
Anyone who didn’t quite get the result they were looking for shouldn’t be disheartened. There are many avenues you can explore, including Vet or bridging course pathways.
Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre interim CEO, Chris Veraa, said there were “many pathways” to tertiary study.
While competitive entry requirements play a significant role in tertiary courses, remember there are many pathways to tertiary study and a high Atar is not the only way to gain entry.
Queensland’s total Year 12 cohort was 55,469 in 2024, with around 49% graduating without an Atar.
Steggall lashes Coalition’s ‘war on renewables’
Independent MP Zali Steggall has responded to the Coalition’s nuclear policy in a statement:
Peter Dutton and the Coalition’s war on renewables provides no relief to Australians trying to reduce their energy bills, locks in expensive coal and gas for another 10-15 years and does nothing to address escalating climate risks.
Police memorial in Melbourne vandalised
Victoria police are investigating vandalism to the police memorial on St Kilda Road in Melbourne.
Police believe the memorial was graffitied overnight by unknown offender(s), with the incident reported to police by a passerby around 7am.
Investigators believe spray paint was used to deface the memorial. The investigation remains ongoing.
After a few more questions, Chris Bowen’s press conference in Sydney has wrapped up.
Robert Menzies would be ‘rolling in his grave at this stuff’ – Bowen
Chris Bowen says the Coalition has identified seven sites, and “at least six of the owners have said they’re not interested in nuclear for those sites” – which implies compulsory acquisition.
The minister says that Robert Menzies “would be rolling in his grave at this stuff”.
If the Labor party tried this, the Liberal party would say it’s Venezuelan-style socialism. This is Peter Dutton’s style of intervention and one where the Australian people lose.
Bowen lashes Liberal party for not including private investment in energy plan
Chris Bowen has also taken aim at the Coalition for using only taxpayers’ money for its energy policy, and no private investment. He has told reporters:
This great free market party, this great free enterprise bastion, the Liberal party of Australia, is saying the taxpayers will pay it all. No private sector investment, not a dollar … They know this is a dog, they know no one will invest in it. Hence you’ve got to create a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy and throw hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ dollars into it …
What impact will it have on the books in coming decades? Well, they got questions to answer about that.
Bowen says Coalition plan would discourage those who have already invested in rooftop solar
Our own Peter Hannam has asked another question – he noted the Coalition’s plan implies that nuclear is always on, meaning renewables could be turned off in various places. Is this likely to discourage investors?
Chris Bowen says yes, and that it would also discourage millions of Australians who have invested in solar panels on their roofs.
They’ve invested in solar and Peter Dutton is saying he’ll switch it off more often.
I mean, he’s saying that we’ll have nuclear running the whole time whether we need it or not, that can only lead to one conclusion. We’ve had four million solar installations in Australia and those millions of people who feed into the grid will be turned off more often. I’ll be saying more about that in coming days and weeks.
Bowen says Coalition plan would mean scrapping renewable projects Labor has committed to
Under the Coalition plan, renewables would supply 53% of the grid by 2050 – does that mean that projects committed to by Labor have to be scrapped?
Chris Bowen says yes, and that the Coalition would have to answer to what it would choose to scrap:
They have to answer the questions about what they would scrap, what sovereign risks they will create, what approvals they would decline. They have to answer that but the short answer is yes, less renewables.
Bowen says Coalition nuclear plan ‘unrealistic’ and ‘a complete farce’
Under the Coalition’s proposed policy, wind and solar would account for 49% of the energy grid, and nuclear 38%, by 2050.
Chris Bowen says the 38% figure would see “more nuclear in the Australian grid than many, many other countries”.
It would put us as one of the world’s biggest nuclear producers from nothing, from zero. I mean, it’s just totally unrealistic, the entire plan is. Just a complete farce.